PHOENIX — Spencer Schwellenbach regarded human once more. Ozzie Albies prolonged his woes in clutch two-out conditions. And the lack to assemble one more late rally prevented the Braves from finishing a three-game sweep at Chase Subject on Sunday afternoon.
“Clearly, you’d prefer to take three, however I like the place we’re at going into Colorado,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley stated.
Even with Sunday’s 6-4 loss to the D-backs, the Braves (12-15) will enter Monday’s sequence opener at Coors Subject having gained seven of their previous 9 video games. A sequence sweep of the 4-23 Rockies would give them a .500 report for the primary time in a season that began with seven straight losses.
Listed below are three takeaways from Sunday’s loss:
1. No late-inning magicThe Braves entered this sequence finale having both erased a deficit or taken a lead within the eighth inning of 5 of their previous eight video games. The D-backs’ bullpen had posted a 7.36 ERA over the previous eight video games.
The script gave the impression to be unfolding in favorable method when the Braves scored a pair of seventh-inning runs to chop their deficit to 4-3. However the D-backs reclaimed a three-run lead when Josh Naylor’s two-out fly ball fell between Alex Verdugo and Michael Harris II in left-center subject.
“Quite a lot of occasions on the market, you’ll be able to’t hear,” Braves supervisor Brian Snitker stated. “… I get caught up speaking about [one hitter] previous to that.”
Pavin Smith got here to the plate with two on and one out. He was lucky that third-base umpire Tony Randazzo stated he checked his swing on a 2-2 pitch from Aaron Bummer. He drew a stroll on the subsequent pitch, a sweeper close to the underside of the zone. This set the stage for him to attain from first on Naylor’s well-positioned fly ball.
“I don’t need to belabor that,” Snitker stated of the shut calls. “We [made it tough on ourselves] sufficient.”
2. Albies’ strugglesThe Braves went 4-for-15 with runners in scoring place and stranded 10 runners on Sunday. One of many sport’s huge moments occurred within the first inning, when Verdugo briefly stumbled whereas tagging from third base on Marcell Ozuna’s fly ball that Corbin Carroll caught alongside the right-field line. Carroll’s sturdy throw and Jose Herrera’s tag prevented Verdugo from scoring on a bang-bang play.
However the Braves had their probabilities. Verdugo’s RBI single within the seventh put runners on the corners and reduce the deficit to at least one run. However Riley and Ozuna each struck out towards Shelby Miller, Atlanta’s ace throughout the 2015 season. After Matt Olson walked to load the bases, Albies hit a weak popup that was gloved in foul territory behind third base. The second baseman additionally stranded two along with his game-ending flyout to middle.
Albies has hit .229 with a .664 OPS by 27 video games. He’s 2-for-16 with runners in scoring place and two outs. He additionally entered Sunday with a career-low 27.8 % hard-hit charge.
“He has lots of confidence and understands that it is a seven-month season,” Snitker stated. “He may rattle off two nice months and be proper the place you need him to be.”
3. Schwelly isn’t worriedWhat stage of expectation did Schwellenbach set along with his nice rookie season? Properly, after permitting 4 runs (three earned) over six innings on Sunday afternoon, there was purpose to ask the Braves hurler why he has regarded human in his previous 4 begins.
Schwellenbach has produced a 4.56 ERA over the previous 4 begins, however he’s accomplished at the least six innings in three of these outings. It’s onerous to be vital of this stretch. However he hasn’t been as dominant as he was when he constructed a 2.50 ERA over an 12-start stretch that started in August and prolonged by this season’s first two begins.
The 24-year-old hurler, who’s in simply his third skilled season, has allowed six or extra hits in every of his previous 4 outings. He did so in simply seven of 21 begins final yr, together with simply as soon as in his closing 9 outings.
“It is the identical factor with hitting, if you go 3-for-4, however when taking the identical swings, with the identical timing, you go for 0-for-4 the subsequent sport,” Schwellenbach stated. “It’s not like you must change something. Stuff occurs.”
